A large number of drugs have been removed from the provincial medical insurance catalog! 68 varieties have entered a transition period.

The new version of the "National Medical Insurance Drug List" has been implemented for two months, and some provinces have already started to cut down on the originally added provincial drugs, temporarily retaining a portion, while the rest may be deleted or listed as self-paid...

According to reports, the Office of the Jiangxi Provincial Medical Security Bureau recently officially released the "Jiangxi Province Transitional Retained Drug List" and corresponding notifications, with 275 drugs, including nationally monitored key drugs, being deleted or listed as self-paid.

It has also been stipulated that starting from the 20th of this month, drugs not included in the "National New List" and the "Jiangxi Province Transitional Retained Drug List" will not be covered by medical insurance or work injury funds.

The Jiangxi Provincial Medical Insurance Bureau's move is to implement the previous requirements of the National Medical Security Bureau regarding "the B-class drugs that were added to the original provincial drug list should be gradually phased out within three years." This was approved by the Jiangxi Provincial Government's executive meeting, which made corresponding work arrangements and formulated the "Jiangxi Province Transitional Retained Drug List."

The "Jiangxi Province Transitional Retained Drug List" consists of Western medicines and traditional Chinese medicines that exceed the "National Basic Medical Insurance, Work Injury Insurance, and Maternity Insurance Drug List" from the original Jiangxi Provincial Drug List, which will be retained during the three-year transition period.

From the list, it is clear that the retained drugs during the transition period include 22 Western medicines and 46 traditional Chinese medicines that exceed the "National New List," and special management will be implemented for the medical insurance and work injury payment funds for drugs exceeding the "National New List."

The remaining drugs will be deleted or listed as self-paid, with a key point that nationally monitored key drugs must exit the list all at once, totaling 275 drugs.

The 68 drugs listed in the "Jiangxi Province Transitional Retained Drug List" also specify the retention period, with some retained until the end of this year and others until the end of June 2022.

Three years to phase out provincial medical insurance supplementary drugs.

Let me explain to the newcomers in the industry that before the current version of the National Medical Insurance Drug List, provinces could adjust B-class drugs based on medication needs (including adding, removing, and adjusting the payment scope). Many varieties not included in the National Medical Insurance Drug List could ensure good sales nationwide if they could enter the provincial medical insurance drug list.

For example, in the previous 2017 version of the "National Medical Insurance Drug List," it was stipulated that the number of adjustments made by each province could not exceed 15% of the national B-class drug quantity, which already imposed restrictions on the adjustments of provincial drug lists.

On July 23, 2019, the National Medical Insurance Bureau publicly solicited opinions on the "Opinions on Establishing a Management System for Medical Security Benefit Lists (Draft for Comments)," which mentioned that "the country uniformly formulates the National Basic Medical Insurance Drug List, and all regions strictly implement the National Basic Medical Insurance Drug List, and in principle, shall not formulate their own lists or increase the drugs in the list by flexible means."

Moreover, in accordance with the requirements to eliminate increments and standardize existing stocks, regions shall, in principle, not introduce policies or measures that exceed the authorized scope of the list. It is required that the provincial people's government be fully responsible, with the policy-issuing department taking the lead, and in principle, complete the cleaning and standardization within three years, in conjunction with national policies.

On November 28, 2019, the National Medical Insurance Bureau officially announced the results of the negotiation for drug access, thus successfully concluding the adjustment work of the National Medical Insurance Drug List in 2019, and the new version of the "National Medical Insurance List" was finalized.

Starting from January 1 of this year, the country began to fully implement the "National Basic Medical Insurance, Work Injury Insurance, and Maternity Insurance Drug List," while multiple provinces have issued documents clearly stating that no coordinated area may independently adjust the limited payment scope of drugs in the list, nor may they formulate their own lists or increase the drugs in the list by flexible means. Moreover, some provinces, including Jiangxi, have already issued notifications that key monitored drugs must exit the list all at once.

This time, Jiangxi took the lead in responding to the previous policies of the National Medical Insurance Bureau, implementing the handling methods for drugs added to the original provincial drug list.

I believe that more provinces will soon introduce implementation measures for the National Medical Insurance Bureau's "gradually phase out provincial supplementary drugs within three years."